I will not hesitate to kick my enemies while they are down, at least to the point at which they are absolutely incapable of resisting, fending off, or fighting against me. If any of the aforementioned enemies ever suggest they know anything which may be integral to or threatening towards my rule, I will hear them out only once I'm absolutely, entirely certain they've been sufficiently incapacitated so as to no longer be capable of posing a direct (or even indirect) threat to me.

I will give the hero and his/her allies as many reasons as I can to support me, and try to limit (and/or shift the blame of) whatever reasons said hero may have to resent me.

I will not betray the hero in an alliance made in good faith from which I wouldn't have anything to benefit the betrayal thereof.

Anyone holding an officer's rank within my Legions of Terror will have only been promoted to said rank after an appropriate number of years of competent, loyal service and demonstrating the requisite aptitude for leadership and tactics. No exceptions.

I will create several positions with impressive titles and very little to no responsibility or power. If I ever have to promote someone incompetent, I will promote him to one of these. These also provide nice options for any subordinate I want to neutralize without offending.

I will only deploy my Imperial Walkers in regions where the terrian and other conditions clearly favor them over more traditional wheeled and tracked vehicles. Also, they will be armed with as many weapons as weight limitations and viable hardpoints will allow, rather than just two cannons forward on the "head" which can only swivel a maximum of 60 degrees in any direction.

I will not take an innocent person hostage and then subsequently murder them in front of the hero solely for the purpose of illustrating what a rotten bastard I am. Doing so would just give the hero one more reason to blow my brains out right there and then.

All of the kitchen knives and steak knives in my palace's kitchen will be kept in a locked cabinet when not in use. Members of the kitchen staff will be issued keys to said cabinet only if they pass a thorough background screening and their duties logically require them to have access to the knives.

If the level of technology allows for it, I will store and use C4 plastic explosives whenever I can. If it does not, explosives will be stored in a locked and well reinforced "hot room" when not in use. This room will also have plenty of fire extinguishers on hand for emergencies and a clearly-posted NO SMOKING sign, just so there is officially no excuse for being thatbrainless.

I will not use any sort of slave as a bodyguard. The same goes for anyone of a people I am keeping in permanent debt.

If the hero has a Snarky Non-Human Sidekick, I will deal with him/her/it with that much more caution since such creatures all too often outshine their human companions both in Genre Savvy and sheer ruthlessness.

I will have my scientists develop a binary compound that can be combined to form a reasonably safe and effective tranquilliser. The precursor compounds of which remain inert, undetectable and stay in the human body for a few weeks, unless the other compound is introduced at the same time, in which case the human in question is knocked out. My mooks will be routinely issued one compound and the local peasantry (and any foreigners I capture as prisoners) the other. Th effects of fraternising between the two groups will therefore be minimized.

Assuming I use them in the first place, any unconventional vehicles I deploy, such as hovercraft and mechanized walkers, will also have treads/wheels for use in case their primary mode of transportation fails.

Should I happen to be an Overlord in a mystical setting, I will never, ever eliminate dragons from the world no matter what they have done to me - there will only end up being a few super-powerful survivors who fight with the hero and gain him huge amounts of PR for having a cool flying death-lizard friend. Instead, I will make dragons a protected species, treat them with courtesy and respect and additionally hire a few as Legions of Terror in keeping with my status as an equal-opportunities employer. In return, I will ask them to ensure that no hero gets his hands on a pet dragon and introduce some of them to my peasants so they are not so amazed should the hero try to use his status as dragon-rider or similar to rally the people.

No matter how small it is, no Rebel Alliance is insignificant enough to ignore. Should any arise, I will bring my full might to bear on them as soon as possible and present them to the people as a bunch of murderous, genocidal anarchists out for money.

I will carefully read and reread any legally (or mystically) binding contract before I even think about signing it, especiallythe fine print. I will summon my lawyers and have them look it over as well, especially if there's anything in the contract that seems a bit fishy to me. All this goes double if it's a pact with a diabolical spirit or deity.

I will not enter into any macho pissing contests with other Evil Overlords, especially ones that will end up with me revealing my secret back up plans in order to "win." (The Hero can do that.)

All boxes, crates, barrels, etc. that the hero or one of his allies could conceivably hide in will always be kept in specially designated areas and will have labels indicating which area they are to be stored in. If any such container is sighted somewhere other than where it is supposed to be, even if said container is not moving, all exits from that area are to be sealed from the outside, and the container in question is to be inspected by two guards—one to open the container (if less direct methods of inspection are unavailable or insufficient) and a second to report an intruder if the first guard is killed by the intruder the instant he/she opens the container. If the container is found to contain no intruder, it is to be returned to its designated storage location.

If I choose to become a Multiversal Conqueror, I will not seek help from my alternate counterparts. Chances are that either they are incompetent or we'll all be fighting each other for control of the multiverse.

My fortress's infirmary will have well-secured cabinets in which all sedatives, painkillers, and other expensive, abusable drugs will be kept. A thorough, daily inventory of said cabinets will be taken and anyone caught getting high off the infirmary's supply can expect to be severely punished.

Anyone I hire to fight the hero shall be bound by a carefully-worded contract that ensures their continued loyalty for as long as I require their services. Even if they're only in it for the money, I need to be sure my hired guns won't turn on me when the hero inevitably offers them better pay.

Should anyone manage to enter my lair, they will not be confronted by a series of minions while I sit in my inner sanctum doing nothing. They will be instead confronted by me (in addition to my most powerful warriors) the moment they walk through the door.

My most powerful weapon/attack that can be reasonably used within the area of the battle will be my first resort, not my last.

If I am an Emotion Eater, I will not underestimate the power of the emotion in question, especially if my consumption of it has made me strong.

I will not turn the world into something Dalí would paint. When things get that chaotic, it's hard to notice little things like the fact that the heroes have their power back.

My Minions of Terror will never carry any amount of cash. Those that require money will be issued checkbooks or credit cards (as technology allows) for official use only. My accounts will be carefully monitored for any sign of credit-card fraud. The Hero doesn't need any more money than he already has.

If the hero has some sort of "hidden power," I will not attempt to provoke him into releasing it so that I can have a good fight. Said hidden power will be far beyond by ability to handle. I will instead use my full power to kill him quickly and be done with it.

If I must have a secret trap door in my throne room, I'll carefully memorize it's exact location and avoid standing on that spot. Also, the opening of said trap door will be triggered by a hidden push button under the arm of my chair, and not a big, obvious lever. Making puns about my enemies "dropping in" will still be optional though.

While potentially costing more money due to replacement, any weapons or other forms of useful equipment carried by my Legion of Doom will be keyed to its user's vital signs. The moment a mook dies, small explosives/strong acid will be set off/released, rendering the equipment useless.

I will not establish a central bank and fiat currency in my nation. Such things may seem to work out fine for a while, but as a student of history I will realize they always lead to a ruined national economy and lots of righteously pissed off subjects who will form or join a rebellion against me.

Any and all prophecies focusing on children of a certain village, town or city or country killing me shall be averted by me first destroying the city, town, village or country with secret assassins yet spare one of the children so that I can secretly pull a Grand Theft Me on said child then stab my comatose body to death(publicly fulfilling the prophecy) and pretend to want revenge against the attackers of the village.

If possible, the guards in my fortress will be equipped with devices that monitor several vitals and transmit them to the security center. If an enterprising hero attempting to sneak in kills or knocks out a guard security will immediately lock down the entire section, possibly adjacent ones as well, and dispatch several squads of Elite Mooks to thoroughly sweep the entire section.

All soldiers in my Legions of Doom, regardless of rank, will be trained to exhibit basic tactical sense, including knowledge of when to retreat, when to call for reinforcements, and when to call for fire support.

If my arch-nemesis has super speed, I will make sure any technological gadgets I have are as un-tamperable as possible. Wires are a BIG no-no. Even then, if said speedster comes within five feet of any device in my possession, I sure as hell am not going to attempt to use it on them. Speedsters are dicks.

My Legions of Terror will unfortunately never be Home by Christmas unless I'm invading fucking Tonga.

I will booby trap one of the random, hard-to-reach, health chests scattered through the kingdom with C4. I will place said explosive inside and behind the hero, so that if he sees the first charge, he will then step on the other one in a hasty retreat and die.

On second thought. I will hide in the chest in my One-Winged Angel form and blow his head off when he pops open the lid. No hero will ever deny a health chest, so the be-heading should go by without a hitch.

I will hire a team of forty young adults, nerds, geeks, and teens to periodically look over the TV TropesEvil Overlord List Cellblocks and ask them if they can condense or shorten this list. I am an Evil Overlord and do not have the time, money, nor the patience required to read near eight hundred rules.

Additionally, I will send this to my 16 year old son and daughter, have them edit it for 30 bucks, and encourage everyone else who sees the list to edit as well.

If not stated before I WILL NOT COMMIT GENOCIDE they tend to backfire.

If I have a beautiful, loyal daughter, I will have her pretend to fall in love with the hero, all while giving me important information.

I will never reveal my secret plans to anyone except my most trusted staff under any circumstances.

If the hero has a qualm for hurting adorable animals, which they most likely do, I'll put kittens in some of your robotic mooks and convince the hero that they'll die if the mooks are broken. Or something like that.

I'll make sure that every one of my mooks has some evident redeeming quality to them if possible, that way I can make the hero more hesitant to harm them, and should Good Is Not Nice be in effect, I'll have a plenty good reason to invoke a HUGEWhat the Hell, Hero?

If I plan to somehow use Santa Claus, I will be as nice as I can so my biggest Christmas wish can come true (owning a Hyper-Mega-Death Laser, or wishing the Flu on my enemies for a quick conquest mayhaps), trying to ruin the holiday seems counterproductive if this is possible; and in case he doesn't grant this wish I can just steal his sleigh and hold the North Pole for ransom.

I'll make sure there are no lose, sharp, and heavy decorations/cargo/stone fixtures in my lair that can be knocked loose and crush/impale someone.

If I have an alter ego "absolutely no one" knows about, and I'm able to see the end of my supposed BIG evil scheme that I can't just bounce back from, I'll continue working as my persona and keep all the things that will reveal my identity in a separate location, and not in a secret room where I live or at my place of business.

If I am holding an enemy by the neck, and they then flat out tell me that they are a decoy, then I will snap their neck, then turn around to see what went wrong.

The entrance to my base has two sets of portcullises or blast doors. These are never open at the same time. Anyone suspected of infiltrating my hideout is to be let in the first set and then trapped when it closes behind them. If it's the hero, I can use the murder holes or hidden explosives.

My troops will be under orders to be on the lookout for anything that can be used as implements to enchant, enhance, upgrade, or in any way improve on any weapon or item. Common items such as ball-point pens, paper clips, rulers, furniture, etc will be secured as appropriate. Uncommon implements will be collected and turned in to a designated collections center, where they will be cataloged and then relayed using an undisclosed transport method to an undisclosed storage facility an undisclosed number of an undisclosed unit of measurement beneath the ground in an undisclosed location that will remain undisclosed.

I will not BAN the practice of enchanting, enhancing, upgrading, or otherwise modifying a weapon or item. This does nothing to stop a MacGyvering Hero, and ensures that his equipment will be superior to that fielded by my own forces. Instead, I will encourage my Mooks to use the uncommon components kept in the aforementioned undisclosed storage facility to enhance their own gear according to their individual preferences.

When challanging yourself and your Mooks, steady up like if it was normal. The Hero, regardless of leveling up nor how many friends, will reach MANY death traps and pitfalls akin to the most hardest stages known to mankind while we can know the ins, outs, cliffs, and roads and can roam easily if not freely.

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